I had a bad feeling about this one. With the Phillies on an eight-game winning streak, it felt like they were due to have a game where things didn’t go their way. And with the team scheduled to board a flight to Seattle later this evening, it was easy to envision the team being satisfied with winning five out of six on the homestand and just trying to get their Sunday afternoon game against the Cardinals over with as quickly as possible.
For eight innings, that bad feeling seemed prescient. Cristopher
Sanchez had a subpar outing, and the offense had a “going through the motions” vibe about it.
And then, the ninth inning happened.
The Phillies delivered perhaps their best inning of the season, rallying back to tie the game before Kyle Schwarber ended it with a game-winning two run home run. That Schwarbomb sent the Phillies to a 6-4 win to finish off a three-game sweep of the Cardinals and extend their winning streak to nine.
This game was rather unfun to watch for the first eight innings. They fell behind early with the first two runs scored against Sanchez coming in remarkably similar fashion: In both the first and fourth innings, the leadoff hitter reached first on an infield single, stole second base, and then scored on a single. Their third run was a little different, with Jose Fermin leading off the fifth inning with a home run. Sanchez gave up one more in the seventh to end his day.
With the way the Phillies’ bats have been hitting lately, a 4-0 deficit shouldn’t seem impossible to overcome. But with two of their hottest hitters – Alec Bohm and Luis Arraez – out with minor ailments, the Phillies’ offense didn’t do much. Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy was pulled from the game after just four innings, but the Phillies didn’t have any success against the Cardinals’ middle relief.
Facing Davey O’Brien in the ninth, it was a different story. Bryce Harper led off with a double, but O’Brien got the next two hitters out. J.T. Realmuto kept the game alive with a single, and then Justin Crawford drew a walk to load the bases.
Edmundo Sosa unloaded them with a three-run double.
Next, despite falling behind 0-2, Bryan De La Cruz tied it up with a single.
For some strange reason, O’Brien was allowed to face Kyle Schwarber next, and Schwarber made everyone understand what a mistake that was.
Now that’s how you end a homestand!
The Phillies will take their nine-game winning streak to Seattle as they begin a three-game western road trip. In the past, West coast trips have served as momentum-killers, but in the past, the Phillies would have ended Sunday’s game with a lackluster 4-0 loss.
Let’s see if they can extend the streak to double digits on Monday.
